Lotteries have been adopted by many state governments as a means of generating additional tax revenue for projects such as highway construction, new schools, and public works programs. As state lotteries have proliferated, lotteries have employed a series of scratch-off and pull-tab games that closely resemble casino style gaming machines in their play.
Commonly, lotteries issue instant win game tickets containing characters indicating whether a prize has been won. The characters are obscured so that they are not readily visible to persons prior to their purchase of the ticket. Typically, the characters are obscured by either (1) paper “pull-tabs” secured by perforated edges which must be torn or burst; or (2) a waxy or plastic covering that is applied over the characters, and which must be removed by scratching with a coin or similar object. The purchaser “plays” the lottery ticket by purchasing it, and removing the covering to reveal the characters showing whether the card is a winner. If the card contains a winning combination of characters, the player may redeem it for the prize designated.
While a number of varied scratch-off and pull-tab lottery games are offered, the games can be reduced to six basic sub-types:                (1) “WAR”: In War-type games, the player is given a series of player numbers or “cards” which must be of a higher value than corresponding key numbers or cards to win;        (2) “BLACKJACK”: Blackjack games are similar to War-type games, except that the set of player numbers or player “card hands” (usually five) corresponds to only one key card hand or number. The object of “Blackjack” type games is to get the highest value without exceeding a specified limit (usually 21).        (3) “MATCH”: In Match type games, one or more key characters or numbers is provided. In order to win, the player must match the key with one or more of his set of player characters or numbers.        (4) “MATCH 3”: Match 3 is similar in concept to the manner in which a classic slot machine operates. In Match 3 type games, a player is given one or more series of three character sets. If the three characters in any set match, the player wins.        (5) “TEXAS HOLD 'EM”: Texas Hold 'Em is a simulation of the poker game, wherein the player is given two cards, the house is given two cards, and there is a five card flop which both player and house can include to create the best poker hand.        (6) “BINGO”: In Bingo type games, a set of key characters are provided as well as a series of “bingo cards.” The ticket is a winner if the key characters appear on the bingo card in the proper formation.        
Variations are introduced to add novelty to instant ticket games and to better hold the interest of potential ticket purchasers. However, these variations also add to the complexity to the games. Typical variations include changes in the number of key characters or player characters, the inclusion of wild characters, and the addition of bonus characters which (1) add prizes; (2) multiply winnings; or (3) add chances to win.
From a competitive standpoint, the instant ticket suffers from a number of drawbacks. These drawbacks can be appreciated by comparing lottery instant win tickets to their main legal competition, regional casino facilities. Casinos offer similar games, but in a much easier to use system. Either an attendant or machine tells the player how to play and whether they have won. The player is not required to read fine print and figure out rules. Additionally, casino games allow a more fast-paced game play than instant lottery tickets. Moreover, casino machines include lights, computer graphics, and sound to stimulate player interest, something not possible with a lottery ticket.
A number of vending machines for selling instant lottery tickets have been patented. Most of these machines operate similarly to existing non-gambling vending machines, as their primary two functions are to collect money and to dispense a purchased item, which in the case of a lottery ticket machine is a lottery ticket. Typically, the purchaser inserts money and pushes buttons on the machine to indicate the type of ticket and number of tickets desired. The machine then vends the tickets, and the purchaser receives whatever change is appropriate. Patents disclosing this type of vending machine include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,222,624, and 6,886,728.
Patents have also been issued for devices to remove the waxy material from scratch-off tickets. Such patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,842, 5,253,383, 5,355,543, 5,402,549, 5,907,882. These devices are adequate as an alternative to manual removal of the scratch-off material, but are not believed to be fast enough or thorough enough to allow the high-speed scanning and vending of tickets required for operation in connection with the device of the present invention.
Additionally, patents have also been issued for devices that simulate slot machine play from information supplied by a central computer server (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,733,385, 6,991,541, 7,192,348) or a computer barcode printed on a ticket (see. e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,385). One significant difference between the present invention and the known art is that in the preferred embodiment, the present invention reveals and utilizes the actual human readable characters contained on the ticket, rather than relying on the additional introduction of computer readable code.
Many patents have been issued for scanning devices and optical character recognition programs that convert printed text into a computer graphic display. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,203,663, 7,203,383, and 7,203,361 for recent patents in this area.
To Applicant's knowledge, no device currently exists that will remove the concealing material from a lottery ticket, pass the ticket through an optical scanning device, read the characters contained thereon, vend the ticket, and display the results by means of computer generated audiovisual display. It is therefore an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide such a device.
It is the hope that the present invention will bridge the gap between paper-based gambling methods such as pull-tabs and scratch off tickets, and computer based video gaming devices. It is believed that the device would have the benefit of adding the excitement of an actual video game machine to the sale and distribution of instant tickets.